The Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media Catherine Martin (pictured) has cleared radio group Bauer’s acquisition of Wilton Radio Holdings.

Wilton operates the iRadio radio channel, comprising iRadio North West and iRadio North East, and an associated mobile app.

Bauer, a media group that operates in 14 countries, already owns a number of radio stations in Ireland – including Today FM, Newstalk, 98FM, Spin 103.8, and RedFM.

‘Media merger’

The deal had been given the go-ahead by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) earlier this year.

The CCPC decided, however, that the proposed deal was a ‘media merger’ for the purposes of part 3A of the Competition Act 2002. As a result, it had to be referred to the minister for a decision on whether the deal would affect the plurality of media in the State.

“The Minister made a determination on 25 October 2023 that the proposed media merger will not adversely affect the plurality of media in the State and, as such, that it may be put into effect,” a department statement said.